ParamoreHouse of Blues – Chicago, ILOctober 10, 2009“One time, we sold more records than Mariah Carey did,” lead singer Hayley Williams of Paramore proudly announced after performing new song “Turn It Off.” Before launching into the classic dance track “Here We Go Again,” Williams told fans, “We’re gonna play another old one for you.” The song is off the band’s debut album All We Know Is Falling and happens to be one of my personal favorites out of Paramore’s entire repertoire of music. Hearing the Franklin, Tennessee (near Nashville) fivesome play “Here We Go Again” live in concert is always a unique experience. This is because Paramore performs the song with an extended and/or alternate ending not heard on the original album recording. If you don’t know, or want to know, what I’m referring to, make sure you check out Paramore when they play a city near you on the ‘Brand New Eyes’ tour. The band always performs “Here We Go Again.” It is by far a staple of their live set.

New song “Careful” off Paramore’s third studio album Brand New Eyes received an introduction from Williams that “Just because I have a mic stand, does not mean this song is slow.” Another new track “Where The Lines Overlap” had Williams informing fans that “This next song is about how awesome I think life is with these guys right now.” The recently turned platinum blonde (a Gwen Stefani influence perhaps?) frontwoman was of course talking about her four bandmates as “these guys.” This particular track may just be my favorite selection off Brand New Eyes. “Where The Lines Overlap” also proved to be the one song that made guitarist Josh Farro smile on stage. I am not kidding here people. My friend Sarah and I noticed that not once did Josh crack even a remote semblance of a smile on stage. However, that was until the performance of what I consider to be the most honest, grateful, thankful, and optimistic musical composition Paramore has written to date.

Taylor York (rhythm guitar)

As expected, Twilight fans freaked out when lead guitarist Farro began playing the first two notes of “Decode.” If you didn’t know already, Paramore contributed a song to the original motion picture soundtrack to the blockbuster hit film Twilight. The final song “Outro” before Paramore’s encore had Williams down on her knees front and center in front of the 1,400 people lucky enough to get into the sold out show this past Saturday in Chicago. “Misguided Ghosts” kicked off the grand finale three-song encore with guitarist Farro, bassist Jeremy Davis, and Williams sitting themselves down at the edge of the stage. The three band members were then two feet away from front row fans clinging for dear life to the barricade. Keeping with the original version of the Brand New Eyes track, “Misguided Ghosts” was performed acoustic at Chicago’s House of Blues. Truth be told, this was the most intimate musical scenario I have seen Paramore in since August 2006. That being when I was one of about 30 kids watching the then foursome play an in-store appearance at the old Tower Records. “And just for the record, I might forget the words to it. It’s been known to happen,” announced Hayley when introducing “Misguided Ghosts.” After the campfire sing-along, Williams told the audience, “You sounded gorgeous!”

Following “Misery Business,” Williams remarked that “It’s date #2 on the ‘Brand New Eyes’ tour. Thank you for helping us kick it off right.” Leading into the last song of the night “Brick By Boring Brick,” Hayley let fans know that, “This next song is our new single. We just shot a video for it.” To my utter shock and disappointment, Paramore did not include “Pressure” in their set. What was up with that?! “Pressure” happens to be the one song that made me fall head over heels in love with this band back in June 2006. Upon hearing the song from beginning to end just once in my friend’s apartment, I was hooked. I then proceeded to spend the rest of the day playing “Pressure” on repeat, driving my friend crazy with my new obsession. I have since seen Paramore live in concert every time they have played in Chicago for the past three years and not once was “Pressure” not a part of the set. My heart broke a little when I first glanced at the set list before the band walked out on stage. I held out hope that at the last second, Paramore would break out an impromptu performance of the song, but no such luck. Before I knew it, the show was over and I didn’t get to sing my heart out to “Pressure” until losing my voice.